Pint after breakfast anyone? Noon may sound a little early to be drinking, but you’d feel out of place if you didn’t join in with the regulars during this play staged in a small Edinburgh boozer.
Huddled on bar stools, with elbows on sticky tables covered with beer mats, the audience sit in the Jinglin’ Geordie pub by day watching the locals while away their nights. The ‘locals’ in this case, being the ensemble Not Too Tame, who have developed ‘Early Doors’ in pubs all over the UK.
The show is a soap opera of sorts, but one with humour, balls, energy, poetry and rhythm. A motley crew of wasters, (bar staff, landlords and drinkers) introduce themselves, their lives and their issues. There’s the brother and sister who have taken over the pub after their mum has died; a quizmaster who is facing the prospect of losing his kids in a messy custody battle; a shy bar boy; and a bouncer who has lost the love of his life.
It’s a series of sassy, witty tales which are given an immediacy by the site specific setting. The ensemble are strong performers, but the stories don’t offer much more than a slightly sentimental snapshot of the everyday.
Still, here's a company that clearly has talent, and their admirably exuberant energy is showcased in a show that’s as fun as a flutter on the fruit machines.
By Daisy Bowie-Sell
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